English Literature I
The formal well-organized structure of The History of Tom Jones contributes greatly to the intricate plot inside, and the novel as an overall piece of work. Henry Fielding contrived the blueprint of the book in its many clearly separated segments extremely well, making it equally as important as the plot. Tom Jones is deliberately and clearly divided into its separate parts. Through these parts he is capable of paralleling two types of stories in one single novel, along with bringing forth symmetries and balances in the division, and in the setting and plot.
Broken down, Tom Jones consists of 18 books each introduced with an opening essay. This 18 book format imitates the standard form of an epic.
“Its 18 books-the total number alludes to the number of books in…a moralized continuation of Homer’s Odyssey, and thus marks Fielding’s novel, too, as a journey novel in the Odysseyan tradition-are arranged in a system of complex symmetries in accordance with ancient epic practice…” (Brooks-Davies).
These 18 books are then broken further into 3 sections to reflect the 3 major parts of Tom’s journey. This structure specifically allows for balance and symmetry to occur.
Reading through Tom Jones once, one draws lines between a few seemingly related details. Upon a closer examination, it is discovered that these relations are made
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intentionally and purposefully. The 18 books are grouped into the 3 parts of the journey: the first grouping of 6 books take place at home in the country, the second grouping on the road, and the last grouping in London (Brooks-Davies). This setup or format allows for two forms of story to be brought into one genre. Tom Jones is generally regarded as a comedy, but inside of this it is also the standard epic journey novel and a romance at the same time.
First, we’ll look at Tom’s journey. It consists of 3 parts that correspond the 3 sections in the book. “…three sets of six books deal respectively with Tom’s upbringing in the country and expulsion by his Uncle Allworthy; his journey to London; and his experiences in London and return home,” (Brooks-Davies). The first part (Books I-VI) taking place at home in the country. This sets up the journey. Tom finds a home with Mr. Allworthy, grows up, and is banished fro...
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... Coleridge called Tom Jones “one of the most perfect plots ever planned,” (Bender). Henry Fielding’s high level of structure and wonderful organization added greatly to the intricate plot inside, and the overall piece of writing. He keeps numerous and structured plots and subplots going at once, and makes them collide in fascinating ways. Dorothy Van Ghent put it perfectly when she said, “We may think of Tom Jones as a complex architectural figure, a Palladian palace perhaps…The structure is all out in the light of intelligibility; air circulates around and over it and through it.”
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Works Cited
Bender, John. “Tom Jones.”
FortuneCity. 14 November 2003.
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Brooks-Davies, Douglas. “Tom Jones: Overview” in Reference Guide to English
Literature, 2nd ed., edited by D.L. Kirkpatrick, St. James Press, 1991.
Ghent, Dorothy Van. “On ‘Tom Jones’,” in her The English Novel: Form and Function.
Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, 1953, pp. 65-81.
Hartwick, Cynthia. “Tom Jones.”
LikesBooks: Review of Tom Jones. 14 November 2003.
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Henry's first-person narrative is the most important element of these stories. Through it he recounts the events of his life, his experiences with others, his accomplishments and troubles. The great achievement of this narrative voice is how effortlessly it reveals Henry's limited education while simultaneously demonstrating his quick intelligence, all in an entertaining and convincing fashion. Henry introduces himself by introducing his home-town of Perkinsville, New York, whereupon his woeful g...
The author continuously characterizes Tom in a way that makes the readers deride him and not want to follow the example of his like. For example, after Tom's wife takes all their valuables and tries to strike a bargain with the devil as Tom won't do it himself, Tom goes looking for her. The reader sees that he doesn't really care about her as much as he cares about the valuables: "He leaped with joy; for he recognized his wife's apron, and supposed it to contain the household valuables"(263). That shows that he is really greedy and ruthless; no one wants to follow someone portrayed like that. Furthermore, Tom had evidence that his wife was fighting with the devil when she tried to strike that bargain. The passage that provides his reaction has a satirical tone: "He shrugged his shoulders, and he looked at the signs of a fierce clapper clawing."Egad," said he to himself, "Old scratch must have had a tough time if it!" Tom consoled himself for the loss of his property, with the loss of his wife"(264). Contrasting words like fierce and prowess, which are serious words, with words like clapper clawing, egad and old scratch, Irving highlights...
...t the book was at times, the stories skipped around so you were thrown into Burnham’s situation, and then right back in Holmes’ situation in the same chapter, so that made the book a bit hard to follow. Also, since there were so many names of people involved in both stories, it was difficult to remember who each of them were and what they did to be a part of the story.
Later approaching the tragedy of of the book, Tom displays another act of sub-human behavior, nonchalantly brushing off his affairs, “And what’s more I love Daisy too. Once in a while I go off on a spree and make a fool of myself, but I always come back, and in my heart I love her all the time.”(201). Tom in a sense...
Hexter, Ralph. A Guide to The Odyssey: A Commentary on the English Translation of Robert Fitzgerald. New York: Random House, 1993.
Lipscomb notes the importance of Henry VIII in this novel by stating the events that occurred in 1536 that shaped and molded his future character and thoughts. He was a devoted catholic
Stillinger, Jack, Deidre Lynch, Stephen Greenblatt, and M H. Abrams. The Norton Anthology of English Literature: Volume D. New York, N.Y: W.W. Norton & Co, 2006. Print.
In conclusion, the “Odyssey” is one of the greatest literary works ever known and this literary analysis should help the reader to understand the important components of the novel such as theme, characters, relationships, symbols, motifs, literary devices, and tone.
Tom's acts in love are childish and immature. At first, Tom's love for Becky Thatcher is just a crush. He tells Becky about his "marriage" to Amy and it starts a fight. After that, they both play a game of "hard to get". After this, Tom is too proud to apologize. Also, Tom makes good decisions. First, when Becky accidentally rips Mr. Dobbins' book a, Tom takes the blame, and this ends their feud. Another mature event takes place in McDougal's cave. When Tom and Becky are in the cave, they become lost. Then Tom takes responsibility for himself and Becky's life. These events are part of becoming a young man.
Lawall, Sarah N. “The Odyssey.” The Norton Anthology of Western Literature. 8th ed. Vol. 1. New York: W.W. Norton, 2006. 206-495. Print.
The book itself is very long and cut up into 10 parts plus the prologue and epilogue. Each page that marked the parts described what would be in this section. This
The Epic of Gilgamesh and The Odyssey both are held in high respect by literature analysts and historians alike for the characterization of the hero and his companion, the imagery brought to mind when one of them is read, and the impressive length in relation to the time period it was written in. The similarities that these two epics share do not end with only those three; in fact, the comparability of these works extend to even the information on the author and the archetypes used. However, The Odyssey and The Epic of Gilgamesh contrast from one another in their writing styles, character details, and main ideas. Both epics weave together a story of a lost man who must find his way, but the path of their stories contrast from one another.
Tom is a character many people in this generation can relate to. Although the play was written many years ago Tom is just like any other millennial from this day and age. He basically hates his job because it’s not fun. He can’t cope with the fact that he has to pick up all the slack his father left behind. He even seems to think that running away will fix everything. All of these things are very common in society today.
Change is evident as an idea in the novel when Tom is reunited with his childhood preache...
The slaves finally had a reason to keep on moving despite the suffering they had to go throw to help them go on (Yagmin 1). When ever Tom sees a slave suffering he would start to tell then about God (Yagmin 1). In the book Tom tries to get every body around influenced on prayer (Yagmin 1). When knowing that St. Clare was not a christen Tom would pray that St. Clare would convert to Christianity (Yagmin...